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While reaffirming the Navy's commit- ment to maintain superiority of the high sea, or "blue" water, is now focusing on the coastal and riverine environments. "Future operations will require a wide range of capabilities and evolving focus.

Changes to our naval forces will include a shift in emphasis from blue water to green and brown water missions."

The Navy is not abandoning the blue water, Winter said. The service is investing in both equipment and people to raise the size of the force from 281 ships to 313, based on analysis that sup- ports the Navy's 30-year shipbuilding plan.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike

Mullen talked about his three priorities of sustaining readiness, building a fleet for the future and creating 21st century leaders. "We've put readiness dollars in, and we know what we're getting out." The key to building the fleet of the future is to balance capability with affordability,

Mullen said. In shaping the workforce of the future, he said "we've got to get it right."

The Navy's shipbuilding plan is sup- ported in the Quadrennial Defense

Review (QDR). Beyond the questions of capability and affordability, Mullen also asks himself "if industry can build it." To keep cost growth in check,

Mullen said, the Navy must stick to its plan. "We've got to give industry a shot at stability." "Leadership," he said, "more than anything else, is what can solve intractable problems."

Mullen referred to the importance of the reserves. He stressed the impor- tance of creating a force where Navy people can leave active duty for a while, join the reserves, and potentially return to active duty later. "We've got to get to the point where you can leave and come back."

Mullen also spoke about engaging with other naval forces to create what he calls the "1,000 ship navy." Partner nations are anxious to be engaged, he said. The U.S. Navy will acquire some smaller platforms, like LCS and

Riverine craft, which can get into small- er ports and can operate with similar sized craft of other nations.

Mullen recently met with six Navy commanders in the Pentagon as they prepare to assume command of half the

U.S.-led Provincial Reconstruction

Teams (PRT) in Afghanistan. Each PRT will work directly with an Afghan

Province, mentoring and assisting its relationships with towns and villages and with the national government.

Sailors and officers are being trained at places like Ft. Jackson, South

Carolina, and Ft Bragg in North

Carolina, in preparation for Individual

Augmentee assignments in the CENT-

COM AOR to join combat support and combat service support units. About half are coming from the active forces, and half are being drawn from our reservists.

Seabees are building border security posts in Iraq along the Jordanian and

Syrian borders. Sailors are also taking over the defenses of Iraq's Haditha Dam, which provides the Iraqi people with a third of their electricity, and relieving the Marines of this duty. A Navy unit is also assuming responsibility of Fort

Suse, the highest security prison in Iraq.

A Navy admiral has assumed com- mand of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, responsible for detainee operations and

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